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Wednesday, October 26, 2005

One day, years ago, my brother called home from his apartment at Boston College to tell us that he was watching students jumping on the goal posts at Alumni Stadium. BC had just upset their rival, Notre Dame, in Southbend with a last minute field goal kicked by a walk on named Dave Gordon. The mob got the posts down, carried them out of the stadium, and deposited them in the backyard of Gordon's "mod".

Thus started a tradition at Boston College that I would later see whenever hockey, basketball or football teams pulled off a major upset. When Alumni Stadium was rennovated, enclosing it, students started gathering on the practice field for this ritual.

As a Hall Director back then, I was disturbed to see my otherwise conscientious, proud BC kids turn into a mob intent on destroying their own campus. I'm all for rushing the basketball court, but ripping up a field and pulling down goal posts is an extremely different matter. Why ruin the playing field? Why act in a such a way that hurts the program (and the school) physically and financially? I never got it.

Last weekend, a student in Missouri died when fans rushed their football field and brought the goal posts down.

"It was maybe the most exciting game we've had on that field in my memory," said Athletic Director Mark Fohl. "It was very exciting and then, very quiet."-USAToday, 10/22/2005

The weekend prior, some students at UVA rushed to Harrison Field after the football team defeated Florida State. They were later scolded in an email from the Athletic Director. While the letter isn't exactly what I would have sent (the field is for those who "have earned the right" to be there), I agree with the overall message. Some, like this third year student, don't.

Storming the field, as well as bringing down the goalposts, is a time-honored tradition in college football, and one that ought to be allowed to continue....Let's hope that the athletic department makes the right choice and allows Virginia fans to appropriately celebrate the Wahoos' next big win in the right place: the center of Harrison Field. -Cavalier Daily, 10/26/2005